Life of machete attack victim saved by police first responders, court hears

Police who treated a woman who was attacked with a machete in Dungannon have been credited with saving her life, a court has heard.

Officers who first found the woman bleeding heavily on the living room floor of a property on Saturday applied a tourniquet to her injured leg, Enniskillen Magistrates’ Court was told.

The details emerged as a man accused of attempting to murder the woman was remanded in custody.

Martin Joseph Groogan, 43, of Gortin Crescent, Dungannon, is accused of attempted murder and possession of offensive weapon, namely a knife, with intent to commit an indictable offence.

The attempted murder charge is aggravated by reason of it allegedly involving domestic abuse.

The court heard that Groogan was found by police “hiding” in an attic of a property in Armagh after the incident on Saturday morning.

District judge Alana McSorley was also told that he denies the charges and alleges the attack on the woman was instead carried out by three foreign national men who broke into the house.

A detective constable from the PSNI’s public protection unit outlined the circumstances of the case during the remand hearing on Monday morning.

The officer said police received a dropped 999 call on Saturday morning. They traced the number and contacted the female caller. Police established that the woman’s partner had been called by Groogan to say the injured woman was bleeding heavily at an address in the Altmore Drive area of Dungannon.

The detective constable said Groogan was told to accept a call from the ambulance service so first aid guidance could be conveyed before emergency services arrived.

The officer told the court that the ambulance service call handler described Groogan as “highly intoxicated” and said he had alleged that “foreign national males” had broken into the house and attacked the woman.

The officer said when police arrived they found the woman, who is aged in her 40s, on the living room floor.

He said she had sustained injuries to both legs and was bleeding heavily. He said Groogan had left the property when police arrived.

The detective constable said officers applied a tourniquet to the woman’s leg and also treated other injuries, including a slice wound on her stomach, slice marks on both legs and an injury to her thumb.

He added: “Air ambulance crews attended and said the use of the tourniquet had ultimately saved the injured party’s life.”

The court heard that the woman has undergone surgery in the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast and is due to have plastic surgery at the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald.

The detective constable said Groogan allegedly got a taxi from Dungannon to Armagh after the incident and was observed by a mobile police crew entering a property in the city.

“Police attended this property and found the defendant to be hiding in the roof space,” he said.

The officer told the judge that colleagues had spoken to the injured woman in hospital.

He said the woman alleges that she had asked Groogan to leave the property in Dungannon but he refused to do so. She then claimed he “flipped” and “slashed” her.

“She realised that she was bleeding heavily, but said the defendant would not ring an ambulance,” the officer told the court.

He said the woman alleges that Groogan threatened to attack her again as she lay bleeding.

The officer said a “blood-stained machete knife” was found in a kitchen cupboard of the property where the incident happened.

“Police believe this to be the weapon that was used in the attack,” he said.

The detective constable said in police interview Groogan claims he was asleep on the sofa when “three black males kicked the front door in and attacked the injured party”.

He said the accused refused to give any further information about the alleged attackers but further claimed that the reason he left the property and was “found hiding in the attic in the house in Armagh” was because he “panicked”.

He answered no comment to further questions, the officer said.

In a second police interview, the officer said Groogan was shown photos that showed there was no damage or sign of forced entry on the front door. The detective constable said Groogan then claimed that the door must have been unlocked.

When the injured woman’s account was put to the accused, the officer said Groogan asked whether she was “sober” when speaking to police.

Asked if he called an ambulance, the court was told that Groogan said he had spoken to the ambulance service but did not confirm whether or not he rang them himself. He then again answered no comment to subsequent questions, the officer said.

After the officer outlined the case details to the court, a solicitor for the accused made clear that he denies the charges.

“The defendant maintains his innocence and he says that these injuries were caused by intruders that broke into the house,” he said.

The solicitor said his client would not be making an application for bail.

Groogan was remanded into custody to appear before Dungannon Magistrates’ Court via videolink on Wednesday November 5.